The papers of Belle Krasne Ribicoff measure 1.6 linear feet and date from 1942-circa 2010, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1945-2004. Papers include biographical materials; correspondence with artists, art historians, writers, museum directors, and others; individual files relating to Belle and Irving Ribicoff's art collection and the Friends of Abe Ribicoff's campaign for the United States Senate; artwork; printed material, e.g., clippings, announcements, exhibition catalogues, brochures; and photographs. The collection documents Ribicoff's career as an arts editor, critic, and her involvement in civic and arts organizations for the State of Connecticut.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Belle Krasne Ribicoff measure 1.6 linear feet and date from 1942-circa 2010, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1945-2004. Papers include biographical materials; correspondence with artists, art historians, writers, museum directors, and others; individual files relating to Belle and Irving Ribicoff's art collection and the Friends of Abe Ribicoff's campaign for the United States Senate; artwork; printed material, e.g., clippings, announcements, exhibition catalogues, brochures; and photographs. The collection documents Ribicoff's career as an arts editor, critic, and her involvement in civic and arts organizations for the State of Connecticut.
Biographical materials include documentation of the Buttenweiser Prize awarded to Belle Krasne by the Art History Departmental Honors at Vassar College in 1945 and curriculum vitae.
Correspondence, primarily incoming letters consists of letters, postcards, draft versions, and copies of e-mails. Belle Krasne Ribicoff was friends with many artists; their letters focus on daily activities, work, and the art world. Among the correspondents are Oscar and Eleanor Chelminsky, Joseph Cornell, Piero and Virginia Dorazio, John and Rae Ferren, Helen Frankenthaler, James Fitzsimmons, Adolph Gottlieb, John Graham, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Modell, George L.K. Morris, Philip Pearlstein, Eero Saarinen, David Smith, and Adja Yunkers. There is substantial correspondence from Ben Benn, Sidney Geist, Leon Hartley, Ralph Rosenborg, and Theodore Roszak. Also found are love letters to Belle Krasne Ribicoff from Jean Bazaine. Many of the artists' letters are illustrated. Of note, are a letter from Carl Holty to J.B. Neumann and an artist's statement written by Adolph Gottlieb.
Ribicoff had a professional and personal relationship with a number of prominent writers, actors, and other individuals known for their work in the arts, such as Edward Albee, Claire Bloom, Peter DeVries, Horton Foote, Elia Kazan, Mark Lamos, Estelle Parsons, Karl Shapiro, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and P.L. Travers. There are letters from museum directors, art historians, and other well-known cultural figures, such as Dore Ashton, Clement Greenberg, Balcomb Greene, Rene d'Harnoncourt, Pierre Matisse, E. P. Richardson, Andrew C. Ritchie, Harry Salpeter, Curt Valentin, and Mark Van Doren. Also found are files of holiday cards, many original artwork; letters to Ribicoff upon her departure from Art Digest; letters from representatives at Storm King Art Center Museum and the Wadsworth Atheneum; and letters from unidentified correspondents.
The Ribicoff collection relates to the personal art collection of Belle and Irving Ribicoff; materials document the purchase and sale of artwork and the lending of artwork for exhibitions. There is a file of petition letters sponsored by the Friends of Abe Ribicoff campaign for the United States Senate.
Original artwork includes prints by Jean Arp and Adja Yunkers and pencil sketches of Sarai Ribicoff by William Bailey. Printed material consists of news clippings; a periodical; exhibition announcements; brochures; an offprint of an article by Cleve Gray; and miscellaneous printed material.
Photographs contain black and white photographs of Belle Krasne Ribicoff, Ben and Velida Benn, Richard Krautheimer, and of the jurors attending the Carnegie International exhibition (circa 1954), including Jean Bazaine, Rico Lebrun, Eric Newton, and James Thrall Soby.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1945, circa 2010 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Belle Krasne Ribicoff Correspondence, 1942-2007 (Boxes 1, 3; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 3: The Ribicoff Collection, 1949-1988 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Friends of Abe Ribicoff Campaign, 1968 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 5: Artwork, circa 1950s-1978 (Box 1, OV 4; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1948-2000 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1945-circa 2007 (Boxes 1-2; 0.1 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Belle Krasne Ribicoff (b. 1924) lives in Hartford, Connecticut and has served as an arts editor, critic, and university administrator.
Ribicoff was born and raised in New York City. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in art history from Vassar College in 1945. After a brief stint with an advertising agency in New York, Ribicoff became Assistant Editor at Magazine of Art (1946-1947), where she developed an interest in contemporary art. She served as editor for such publications as Art News (1948-1949), Art Digest (1949-1954), and Craft Horizons (1954-1955).
In 1955, she married Irving S. Ribicoff (1915-1994), an attorney and moved to Hartford, Connecticut. The Ribicoffs' had two daughters, Dara (b. 1956) and Sarai (1957-1980).
Ribicoff has held various positions at the University of Hartford: Development Director at the Hartford School of Art (1980-1981), Development Liaison to the Office of President (1982-1988), and Associate Vice President for Public Affairs (1980-1983). Belle Krasne Ribicoff has served as a professional volunteer for educational and cultural organizations in Connecticut; she has been involved in efforts to make the arts a part of the school curriculum. She was Vice-President of the Hartford Board of Education (1961-1967; 1965-1971) and was Chairman of the State of Connecticut's Commission on the Arts (1965-1971). Ribicoff is a Life Director at the Hartford Stage Company and a Life Regent at the University of Hartford. She is a Sterling Fellows at Yale University and sits on the President's Advisory Committee at Vassar College.
Belle Krasne Ribicoff has received recognition for her professional and public service contributions by a number of institutions. In 1954, she received the Frank Jewett Mather Award for critical writing from the College Art Association. Other honors have included: Charter Oak Leadership Medal for Distinguished Service (1968), the University of Hartford Medal for Distinguished Service (1995), and the Spirit of Vassar award for outstanding commitment and service to Vassar or another community (2005).
Related Material:
Also found at the Archives of American Art is Belle Krasne's letter to Philip Pavia, May 14, 1954 on microfilm reel 3470.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Belle Krasne Ribicoff to the Archives of American Art in 2008.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment.
Letters from Jean Bazaine to Belle Krasne Ribicoff and sketches of Sarai Ribicoff by William Bailey are access restricted. Their use requires written permission.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The scattered records of the New York contemporary American art Eva Lee Gallery measure 4.0 linear feet and date from 1921-1973. Artist files contain provenance notes, photographs of artwork, records of sales and consignments, exhibition catalogs from other galleries, and reference information on numerous contemporary artists, many represented by the gallery. There are also scattered letters and artwork from artists, scattered sales records of J.B. Neuman's New Art Circle Gallery, and a photocopy of an auction catalog for Korvettes Art Galleries in Douglastan, New York. A significant amount of information is found within the collection about Alexander Calder, Lovis Corinth, Salvadore Dali, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Robert Indiana, Harry Lieberman, Rene Magritte, John Marin, Lowell Nesbitt, Ben Shahn, Victor Vasarely, and Max Weber.
Scope and Content Note:
The scattered records of the New York contemporary American art Eva Lee Gallery measure 4.0 linear feet and date from 1921-1973. Artist files contain provenance notes, photographs of artwork, records of sales and consignments, exhibition catalogs from other galleries, and reference information on numerous contemporary artists, many represented by the gallery. There are also scattered letters and artwork from artists, scattered sales records of J.B. Neumann's New Art Circle Gallery, and a photocopy of an auction catalog for Korvettes Art Galleries in Douglastan, New York.
The records are comprised of artists' files arranged into four categories established by the gallery: general artists' files; notebooks of artists' files; financial artists' files; and consignment and sales artists' files. General artists' files contain background and reference information on numerous contemporary artists, performers, and art-related organizations. More information exists for Alexander Calder and Harry Lieberman than the other names represented in the general files. Lee also arranged provenance notes and photographs of artwork into notebooks, presumably including many of the artists represented by the gallery. There is a significant amount of material in the notebooks on Alexander Calder, Robert Indiana, Lowell Nesbitt, Ben Shahn, Victor Vasarely, and Max Weber.
Financial artists' files contain correspondence with artists and patrons concerning the sale of artwork by both the Eva Lee Gallery and J. B. Neumann of the New Art Circle Gallery, scattered artwork, printed material, photographs of artists, and checks signed by Neumann and endorsed by miscellaneous artists. Eva Lee worked on the estate of J. B. Neumann and collected and interspersed his files with her own. These files include letters from Josef Albers, Thomas Hart Benton, Alexander Calder, Christo, Joseph Cornell, Robert Indiana, and a postcard of Calder's studio from Ben Shahn. There are also watercolor sketches by Clifford Odets, an exhibition catalog autographed by Ben Shahn, and photographs of Marsden Hartley, Jacques Lipchitz, composer Frederick Loewe, Paul Mommer, Mert Simpson, and Curt Valentin with Andrew Ritchie.
Eva Lee Gallery artists' consignment and sales files primarily contain photographs of artwork and notes concerning sales of specific artwork by the Eva Lee Gallery. Also found in these sales files are scattered letters, receipts, and printed material. There is a significant amount of material for Ben Benn, Alexander Calder, Lovis Corinth, Salvadore Dali, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Marsden Hartley, John Hopkins, Rene Magritte, and John Marin. It is assumed that Eva Lee separated the two latter sets of artists' files containing sales records.
Also found in the collection is a photocopy of the Korvettes Art Galleries auction catalog, which lists artwork sold at a 1970 auction liquidating the holdings of the Douglaston, New York gallery.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: General Artist Files, 1923-1972 (Boxes 1-2; 1.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Notebooks of Artist Files, 1929-1973 (Boxes 2-3; 1.4 linear feet)
Series 3: Financial Artist Files, 1921-1970 (Boxes 3-4; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 4: Eva Lee Gallery Consignment and Sales Artist Files, 1960-1972 (Box 4; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 5: Photocopy of Korvettes Art Galleries Auction Catalog, 1970 (Box 4; 1 folder)
Historical Note:
Eva Lee was born circa 1924. She fled from Nazi Germany to the United States, becoming an art dealer and the owner of the Eva Lee Gallery, Inc. Located in Great Neck, New York, the Eva Lee Gallery specialized in modern art and handled the work of many prominent artists including Alexander Calder, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Marsden Hartley, Jacob Lawrence, Ben Shahn, and Max Weber. The gallery was in operation through the first half of 1973.
Eva Lee died suddenly on November 4, 1973 in Terre Haute, Indiana, while undergoing unspecified medical treatment.
Provenance:
The Eva Lee Gallery records were donated in 1973 by Eva Lee through Eloise Spaeth, and in 1978 by Neal Richmond of the Paul Klapper Library, Queens College, Flushing, New York, who had been asked to disperse Lee's gallery records following her sudden death in 1973. A photocopy of the Korvettes Art Galleries Auction Catalog was donated by Eva Lee in 1970.
Lee's records also contained financial files belonging to art dealer J. B. Neumann and his New Art Circle Gallery, whose estate she had worked on in 1966.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Writings found here, primarily in the form of transcripts, are on subjects of interest to Shahn many of which were presumably used as source material for his artwork, sparked his interest in a particular commission such as those by John Barlow Martin, or were given to him as possible commissions for illustrations.
See Appendix for a list of writings from Series 5.3.
Arrangement note:
This series is arranged alphabetically by author with details provided in the index. The bulk of this series has been scanned with the exception of the full text of some writings.
Appendix: List of Writings from Series 5.3:
Writings are listed alphabetically by author; writings by unidentifed authors appear at the end of the list. Barr, Alfred: "The United States at the Venice Biennale," 1954
Bernstein, Aline: "Battle Hymn"
Block, Lou: "Ballyhoo vs. Information," circa 1943
Brennan, Francis: "The Picture and the Word," 1956
Brennan, Francis: Account of trip to Russia, 1960
Brennan, Francis: Speech for Conference of Western Association of Art Museums
Dugan, Alan: "Society of the Free and Easy"
Dugan, Alan: "Speech to the N.B.A"
Durr, Clifford J.: "The Trial of Jesus as a Loyalty Hearing"
Dye, Joan: "Juvenile Delinquency," 1956
Endore, Guy: "Address to the School of Library Science, UCLA," 1962
Engel, Monroe: "A Father's Geography," 1956
Ferry, W. H.: "Black Colonies: A Final Solution"
Ferry, W. H.: Address from the Western States Democratic Conference
Ferry, W. H.: "Why the College is Failing," 1963
Ferry, W. H.: "A Proposal from Ralph Helstein, Robert Theobald, and W. H. Ferry," 1963
Ferry, W. H.: "The Triple Revolution: An Appraisal of the Major U. S. Crises and Proposals for Action," 1964
Ferry, W. H.: "The Muddle in Education," 1964
Fielder, Leslie A.: "Nude Croquet"
Fuller, R. Buckminster: Letter to Mr. Higman, Conference on World Affairs, University of Colorado, 1963
Goldburg, Rabbi Robert: Memorial prayer for John F. Kennedy, 1963
Goldin, Judah: Translation of "The Grace After Meals"
Gregory, Horace: "Alphabet for Joanna"
"Vincent Van Gogh's 'Landscapes of the Soul'"
Gusten, Theodore: "Vincent Van Gogh, We and Picasso"
Johnson, Lyndon B.: Excerpts from Address to National Education Association, 1965
Joyce, Robert: "The Working Artist," 1961
Kacmarcik, Frank: "The Bible and Creative Imagination"
Kastner, Frank: "The Bible and Creative Imagination"
Kennedy, John F.: Statements, 1963
Lamont, Corliss: Statement before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, 1953
Langum, John K: "Prospects for the American Economy," 1965
Lemon, Richard: "Campaign Song"
Levinson, Alfred: "Cricket in the Mill"
Lewis, Margery: "The Young American Artist"
Martin, John Bartlow: "The Mecca Building"
Martin, John Bartlow: "The Hickman Story"
Martin, John Bartlow: "A Letter About Upper Michigan"
Martin, John Bartlow: "A Trip to the Lincoln Country"
Piel, Gerard: "Science, Disarmament and Peace," 1958
Pines, David, editor: Statement about book "Frontiers in Physics"
Pollack, Peter: Statement on establishment of the National Arts Foundation and the National Council on the Arts, 1963
Reid, Alistair: "A Spelling for Sleeping"
Reid, Alistair: "A Lesson in Music"
Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff: "Will the Creative Arts Thrive or Degenerate During the Next Fifty Years?"
Rodman, Selden: "Death of the Hero: A Modern Morality"
Rodman, Selden: Reviews
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano: Addresses to Congress, 1942
Rosenblum, William F.: Script of Chanukah pageant and story, 1962
Rosskam, Edwin: "Three Victims," 1960s
Rosten, Lou: "Gandhi," 1964
Roth, Cecil: "Had Gadya," 1965
W.H.S.: "What Price Peace?" 1963
Schlesinger, Jr., Arthur: "Government and the Arts," 1962
Shyre, Paul: "The Child Buyer" Play script adapted from novel by John Hershey
Taylor, Harold: "The First Sex: or Oedipus Unbound," 1953
Terracini, Umberto: Preface for "The Jews of the USSR," 1966
Tyler, Parker: Review of Exhibition by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans and M. Alvarez Bravo, 1935
Wilder, Thornton: Playscript, "The Seven Deadly Sins - Number Six: Lust/Someone from Assisi"
Wilder, Thornton: Playscript, "The Seven Ages of Man - Number One: Infancy"
Wilder, Thornton: Playscript, "Childhood"
Yeats, W. B: Playscript: "Calvary" with production notes from Theatre Intime production
"Project by the Brooklyn Museum for a Major Exhibition of Photographs Dealing with Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans"
"The Use of Earle Browder's Image in a Mural"
Mr. Passow's Proposals Concerning Childhood Talent," 1966
"Problems Connected with Education in the Fine and the Applied Arts"
Possible chapters for a book: "Entertaining Notions" and "In the Name of Art"
"How to...Anything"
"New Forms vs. Reforms"
"The Transformation of the Novel"
"A Proposal to Establish a New and Permanent Opera Group in Boston"
"For Michael's Sake"
"Mino Maccari"
"The Sacco and Vanzetti Case"
"You the Steel Worker"
"Steel Strike in Warren, Ohio"
"Towards a Rural Housing Program"
"First Draft of Resettlement Administration Primer"
"Proposal for a Rural Community Center Program"
"Designing Museum Buildings"
"Food for Thought - A Creative Menu"
"The Dustbowl"
"President's Committee on Farm Tenancy," 1937
"God"
"A Portrait of the Plasma as a Many-Body Problem"
"Story About Kay-Kay"
"The Short Grace After Meals"
Text for a Woman's Pamphlet
"Metropolitan Museum"
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Ben Shahn papers, 1879-1990, bulk 1933-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
